Parenting For Dummies
by Norri-chan
Summary: What if Hellboy, Liz, and Abe stayed at the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense?  What if a new arrival showed up?  What if this arrival was 6 years old and part of Liz's plan to prepare Hellboy for fatherhood?
1. Chapter 1

_Thank you for choosing to read my Hellboy fanfic! I hope you like it! I would also appreciate comments please! And sorry if I messed up on some detail of some sort, I'm trying my best! Enjoy! 8D_

_Why does it always rain when bad things happen..?_

Another clap of thunder rumbled across the dark sky. The rain drops tapped on the glass car window. It had been raining ever since the man and lady in black business suits had come to pick her up. The man was driving the sleek black car while the lady sat in the back next to a very young girl. Neither of the adults made a sound or try to talk to her.

The little girl clutched her brown sugar colored teddy bear as she looked out the window into the gray bleakness. Just looking at the cold scene made her pull her wool knit hat more onto her head.

_Where are we going?_ She thought to herself, she didn't dare ask aloud, the stiff silence from the adults intimidated her.

The car continued to move down a road, sill unfamiliar to her until the car pulled up to a set of iron gates, a stone sign in front of them reading Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.

A guard that looked more like a soldier, loaded down with body armor, a gun, and helmet approached the driver side of the vehicle as the man in the suit rolled down the window. The soldier guard only needed a glance at the man's face, then gestured his approval for allowing the gates open.

The iron gates creaked open and the black car slowly entered and pulled around to the entrance of a stone government looking building.

The man and woman exited the vehicle, the man opened the door for their passenger.

The girl hesitantly stepped out of the car, and slowly followed the two adults up the grey stone steps with her head down. She had no idea why she was brought here or who these people were. The kind lady at the place where other kids with no parents stayed told her that the two stone-faced people would take good care of her.

Inside through the great wooden door was a large room with marble tiled flooring. Her escorts continued to walk down the corridor, a few other adults walking by dressed in suits too. Some threw glances at her with eyes wondering why she was here, some didn't even notice their co-workers taking the small girl towards a chrome hallway towards the back of the building.

She looked around, slightly marveling at the shiny finish of the walls. It looked like a hallway on a spaceship from a space movie she had watched before. A few other people passed them, some wearing lab coats.

After a bit more walking, they came to a door that opened up to a room that didn't fit the chrome hallway at all. It looked like a huge home library with dark mahogany shelves filled with different colored books. Plush brown leather sofas rested on the burgundy carpet near a cozy looking fire place, the flames crackling a warm welcome. A small spiral stair case led to a second floor. To her left was a large tank of water that was at least three times as tall as her. What confused her was that it looked like a completely empty looking tank.

"Wait here until we go and see if your room is ready, in the meantime, you may end up meeting some friends soon" The stony faced man suddenly said. He hadn't said anything until now. His voice had a layer of sarcasm as he said the word "friends", which made the little girl wonder if she should be scared of these new "friends" of hers.

The man and woman left briskly, closing the heavy door behind them, and leaving her alone in the surprisingly comfortable looking room.

She stood there for a moment, not sure if she should look around and explore her new surroundings. She took a few small steps forward, then glanced at the empty tank. She wondered why it was there, so she walked over to it.

She approached the tank to where her face was almost inches from the glass surface. She looked into the chlorine pool colored water, wondering if anything at all lived in here. _Maybe a really big fish..?_

The girl stared a few more moments into the water until she was convinced that nothing was in the tank, until a strange face suddenly appeared in front of her. She yelped in surprise, leaping back and stumbling, then landing on her rear end. She stared up at the strange figure, her milk chocolate brown eyes wide as she tried to make sense of what was in front of her.

The figure looked like a man, but this man looked very different then what she had seen before. He was a light blue-green color for starters, with dark blue tiger stripes coming from his back. He had large, black eyes and gills on his neck. Both his feet and hands were webbed. He wore black shorts, and he was _in_ the tank, underwater. His arms and legs slightly swayed as he stared at her, his head cocked slightly.

She stared back, her heart racing. _Who was he? What was he?_

There were a few moments as the two stared at one another, then the blue fish man spoke.

"Are you lost little one?" he spoke from underwater, but his voice sounded clear and strangely kind coming from some sort of intercom.

She didn't respond at first, but then shook her head.

The blue one cocked his head to the other side.

"Then, dear child, what are you doing here?" he asked, out of sincere curiosity.

This girl didn't say anything because she, herself, did not know the answer to that question, so she continued to stare back, wide-eyed still.

There were another few moments of silence, then the fish man gracefully swam toward the back of the tank, to a part that was out of sight to the girl. A few more moments, and the blue man walked around the corner of the tank, lightly drying himself off with a white bath towel. He walked over to her until his was a few feet in front of her, then stopped and squatted down to more of her eye level. She met his eyes once again, they stared at one another.

He seemed to be studying her with his black, unblinking eyes, then he spoke.

"What is your name child?" he asked softly, sensing the girls fear and anxiety.

Another round of silence, then softly, barely a whispered, she said "…Sophie…"

The blue fish man smiled at her. "Hello Sophie, my name is Abe Saipien. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Sophie didn't respond, but her eyes relaxed a bit so she didn't look as frightened. She shifted position so that she was sitting cross-legged with her bear in her lap. Maybe this strange fish man named Abe wasn't too bad.

Then she heard footsteps coming from a room in the far back corner of the library. A lady with short, jet black hair that came up to her chin and dressed in mostly black walked into the library. Sophie noticed that the lady was pregnant, her middle bulging out slightly with the signs of early pregnancy. She paused when she spotted Sophie, but then smiled.

"Looks like you've finally arrived" she said as she walked up to where she stood slightly behind Abe.

Sophie felt her brow scrunch up in confusion, and she could see Abe look up at Liz with the same expression. _How does she know me?_

"Liz, how do you know this child?" Abe asked, rising into a standing position.

"I've looked at your profile, and I'm the one who asked for you to come here" Liz explained.

Now Sophie was even more confused. _Why does this lady want me here?_

As if he had read Sophie's mind, Abe asked, "Why did you want this young one to come here? Surely you can see she's scared about her new surroundings…" he pointed out, looking down at Sophie.

"Yes…I can see that, but she needs to be here…I need her to be here…" Liz trailed off, lightly rubbing her round middle. "I'll be leaving in a few days to a special hospital to run some tests about the babies, I want to make sure that they come into this world healthy. Red won't be coming with me though," Liz added.

_Red? Who's Red?_ Sophie wondered, but kept her mouth shut as she continued to listen.

"He's never been a father, so I figured while I'm gone, he could have some….practice you could say" Liz continued.

Abe looked at her quizzically. "Practice? Liz I don't think bringing a child here for Red to practice being a father to is a good idea…"

"It's not just that Abe," Liz started, "This girl has…special abilities….and appearances" she hinted.

Abe looked at Sophie as Liz approached her, and squatted down in front of her.

"Hey Sophie…" Liz said softly, smiling a warm smile at the little girl. "Do you mind if you took of your hat and coat off for us?"

Sophie looked back at Liz, then at Abe. She knew she was different, but so were these people. Maybe this was why she was brought here, she had been told she was unique.

She slowly took off her coat, then her hat. Her wavy honey colored hair tumbled down to her shoulders, and on her head was a set of equal colored cat ears. When she set her coat down, a fluffy honey colored cat tail was revealed to. Sophie looked down at her feet, she felt a little embarrassed about her unusual body traits. She swished her tail slightly.

"Well would you look at that…." Abe said in awe, coming closer to Sophie to get a better look at her.

"See?" Liz said with a small smile. "She's different, so they brought her here on my request. And I really think Red could learn a lot" about parenting with her."

_Who is this Red guy they keep mentioning?_ Sophie wondered, and if on cue, the giant wooden doors burst open.

A big red man stormed through. He wore black leather pants, heavy black bots, and a long open leather jacket. He had a red tail behind him, and one of his arms looked like it was made out of solid red rock. He had black hair that was pulled back into a tight folded bun. He had black sideburns that bordered his jaw. He also had two round circles on his forhead that looked they had been horns that were cut off. He seemed angry.

"Liz! What's this they're tellin me about you leaving in a few days?" he demanded, his deep, gruff sounding voice bellowing out.

Sophie flinched and shrank back a bit at the sight and sound of him. _This was Red?_

Liz remained calm as the big guy stood in front of her. "Red, it's for the babies, and I'll only be gone for about a month" she explained.

"A month! Why?" Red nearly shouted, his red tail twitching in frustration.

"I'm going to a maternity hospital to have some tests run, I need to go somewhere a bit more suitable for a pregnant woman"

"What's wrong with here? This place is just fine!" Red retorted, raising his arms, gesturing to their surroundings, he hadn't even noticed Sophie yet.

Sophie drew her eyes away from Red as she saw Abe quietly step in front of her, almost as if he was trying to shield her from the anger in Red. She looked back a Red, her ears slightly lowered.

There was a pause as Liz looked at Red with a serious expression.

The same lady and man who had brought Sophie here, suddenly walked into the room, and straight up to Red.

"Hellboy!" the lady yelled.

_Hellboy? But I though his name was Red…_

"You need to understand the situation, Liz needs be somewhere more appropriate for her condition" the man stated calmly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Hellboy replied absently, waving his hand at the two.

"Red…there's something I want you to do while I'm gone…a mission of sorts…"Liz began to explain. "There's someone I want you to meet" Liz nodded in Sophie's direction.

Hellboy turned and finally noticed the small human-cat hybrid girl hiding behind Abe's legs.

Sophie flinched, her ears lying flat on her head as Hellboy stared rather blankly at her.

There was a silent pause.

"Who's this little squirt?" he asked simply, throwing Liz a quizzical look. Then he looked at his buddy Abe, who was smiling.

Liz was smiling too.

"…What's goin on here?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A friend gave me some advice on how I write, so I'm hoping this chapter turned out better than the first. I tend to type faster than I think, so sometimes I leave out things and it doesn't come out as detailed as I had hoped, so I tried to go a bit slower on this one. Now for a bit its going to seem like she'll only get close Abe (after all Hellboys all big and scary) but don't worry, it'll come. Anyways, any comments and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! And thanks for being so patient, it's been a hectic year! Enjoy! 8D_

Sophie sat on at the end of one of the brown leather couches, clutching her teddy bear. Hellboy and Liz were at a far corner of the library, Hellboy unconvinced as to why Liz had to go while he "babysat." By the tone of his voice, it sounded as if Sophie were a burden. She stared at her shoes, her honey ears drooping at the feeling of being in the way. She had felt like this at the orphanage, none of the kids really spoke to her and the adults always looked at her as if they didn't know what to do with the strange girl. Sophie sighed rather glumly, but then looked to her left as she felt someone sit down on the opposite end of the couch from her.

It was Abe. The blue fish man sat kind of perched on the edge of the cushion, not leaning back, but instead resting his forearms on his knees as he looked at Sophie with his big black eyes. He had a small comforting smile on his lips. It was as if he knew how she felt…

Sophie stared back at him, not really wanting to say anything because she didn't really know what to say in the first place. She still wasn't used to the odd appearances of Abe and Red, but at the same time, she was almost relieved. There were other people who were like her, who were different.

Abe looked over his shoulder at the quarreling couple, then back to Sophie.

"Don't worry about Hellboy, he'll get passed this anger. He's a nice fellow, once you get to know him that is" he explained softly.

Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to get to know the big angry loud guy…he seemed very intimidating. She liked Abe so far though, he was gentle with his words and the way she felt he truly understood what emotions she was feeling…it was a bit uncanny. Nonetheless, she made a mental note to stay close to Abe until Hellboy calmed down. Liz seemed pretty nice, Sophie was just wondering how she put up with Red.

Sophie hugged her bear tighter, she had had her bear since she could remember. She had been told that her mother had given it to her when she was a baby. It was soft and always brought Sophie comfort, as if part of her mother was right there with her.

Abe leaned his head slightly to the right as he eyed Sophie's teddy bear. He understood the need for her security item, anxiety was rolling off the child in waves. He didn't even have to use his abilities to sense that.

There was suddenly a groan of frustration coming from Liz in the corner. As Sophie turned around, she saw Liz storm across the room to the wooden doors. What had made Liz so mad? She seemed pretty good at keeping calm before…

Hellboy was trailing behind her. "Liz…" he called out, sounding defeated and as if he was going to try to patch something up. He reached out for her, but Liz opened the big wooden doors, and exited the room, slamming the door with a loud _BAM!_ The room seemed to shake as if shock waves had been released from the door. Hellboy stood in his tracks, staring at the door. A few silent moments passed until he trudged over to a leather armchair next to Abe. He sighed in defeat as he slumped over into the chair.

All Sophie could do was stare at him, afraid if she said anything that it might anger Red.

Abe was the first to speak. "You know she's right…" he stated matter-of-fact like.

The big red guy glared at Abe silently for a moment.

As if on cue, Sophie's belly rumbled loudly in hunger, breaking the silence. She shrank back a little as if trying to hide the noise.

Abe glanced at her, then back to Hellboy. "How about you start with lunch?"

Hellboy rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh, then eyed Sophie with an expectant look.

"Ya like nachos kid?"


End file.
